John Chrysostom and His Time, Volume One, Part One: Antioch: The Early Years

“Stars are first noticed when they begin to shine; and the stars of humanity first begin to shine long after they have been in existence without having been noticed at all. As is the case with most great men, the youth of John Chrysostom is shrouded in obscurity. To portray his inner growth, his spiritual development, is therefore the stimulating first chapter to which the historian and the reader must renounce all claim. Of his childhood home we know only this, that he lived in it with an older sister, whose name is not known to us. Possibly it is with a memory of his own childhood, that he later wrote in his treatise on ‘Virginity’ (48, 586): ‘As long as the young girl is at home with her mother, she is much concerned about her toys. She keeps them in a little chest, as in a treasure chamber, and keeps the key of it herself, and takes care of them all by herself; and for the guarding of all these little and worthless things, she takes as much trouble as adults do of greater things entrusted to them.’ That neither the biographer Palladius nor Chrysostom himself have given the names of his parents, leaves a still greater hiatus in the family history. Chrysostom never once mentioned his mother’s name, even when in his Treatise on the Priesthood (6, 7) he traced such a moving picture of maternal love.”—“Chapter I: EARLY YOUTH”

CONTENTS

Foreword to the Second EditionForeword to the First EditionTranslator’s ForewordIntroduction: A. Sources B. Literature/Bibliography1 Early Youth2 Schools and Pupils in the Fourth Century3 Libanius, the City Rhetorician of Antioch4 Chrysostom in the Schools of Antioch5 Antioch, the City and People6 Religious and Ecclesiastical Relations in Antioch7 Emperor Julian and the Dying Paganism8 Emperor Valens (364-379) and the Last Flare-up of Arianism9 Catechumenate and Baptism10 In the School of Diodorus11 Chrysostom as a Monk12 First Literary Activity13 Theodosius the Great and the Victory of Catholicism14 John the Hermit15 Chrysostom Becomes a Deacon16 The Council of Constantinople17 Ecclesiastical and Literary Activities18 Chrysostom is Ordained Priest (386)19 Chrysostom as a LiturgistIndex of Persons, Places and Things at the End of Volume Two, Part Two